


Birthday Gift-Ficlets 2014

by Beryll (Rynthjan)



Series: Birthday Gift-Ficlets [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Multi, Slavery, phoenix empire, slave shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-03
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 07:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3282416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rynthjan/pseuds/Beryll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gift-fics I did for my birthday 2014</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nerves

**Author's Note:**

> Title: "Nerves"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Robert/Thomar, Wesley/Leesha  
> Prompt: The four of them meet once more and advice is given  
> Warnings: politics

Robert kept his hands folded on his back to keep himself from chewing his fingernails.

This was it. This was the single most important moment in Imperial history he would have the honour to attend. He had put weeks of meticulous planning and countless hours of sweat and - yes - even tears into making it as perfect as it had to be.

He had to force himself to keep breathing as Thomar greeted first Empress Aliaera and then Emperor Elisander with all the decorum one would expect of an Imperial Duke. The sequence was of utmost importance since the Empress was a guest of the Empire and the Emperor essentially still in his own domain, even though they had picked Aylian as a neutral location for this meeting.

The Empress appeared in a guise human enough, but Robert hadn't missed the tiny shiver running through his lover, when Thomar greeted her. One that clearly showed Robert that Thomar was dealing with someone he considered a very serious threat.

His fingers clenched on each other. If anything went wrong…

"It will be fine." The calm, cultures voice next to him nearly had him jumping out of his skin.

He had completely forgotten that he was standing right next to one of the most powerful men in the Empire. It was incredibly embarrassing to show such a lack of self control in front of Master Wesley.

He glanced at the Emperor's secretary and found the other man smiling quite kindly at him.

"I could say that I personally went over all your preparations and found them to be quite satisfactory." Master Wesley said, stunning Robert with his praise. "But instead I'll ask you a question: Do you trust your master?"

"Of course." Robert answered, before his brain could catch up to his mouth and form a more polite reply.

"So do I." Master Wesley said with a fond glance at the Emperor. "I trust there is nothing the Emperor can't handle and you trust there is nothing Duke Thomar can't handle. Whatever goes wrong, it will be fine."

Robert blinked at him owlishly for a moment, but then the overwhelming calm that Master Wesley projected spread to him as well and gradually he relaxed.

"Thank you." He said softly.

Master Wesley nodded politely and turned his full attention back to the meeting of the two rulers.


	2. Goodnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "Goodnight"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Pairing: Sam/Yaden, Yaden/Colin, Jenny/Kendrik, Sam/Teagan  
> Prompt: Yaden and his husbands. All of them, including Sam. And there should be at least a little bit of snuggling involved.  
> Warnings: cuddles

It was utterly ridiculous and rather embarrassing, but Sam felt like a blushing bride being carried over the threshold of her new home as he carefully stepped down into the huge sleeping nest Yaden and his husbands and wife shared. He also felt like he was trespassing just a little bit since they weren't even married yet. 

He was quite gratefully that it was only him and Yaden here.

Yaden, who was lying on his belly near the edge of the nest, his naked feet in the air, one of them absentmindedly scratching the other, while his full attention was on the comic book he was reading.

"Hey." Sam said nervously.

Yaden looked up at him and welcomed him with a warm smile, his eyes sparkling with happiness. "Hey yourself." He said, pushing the comic away to roll on his back and open his arms invitingly.

It was the first time Sam had decided to spend the night on Yaden's island. The first time he felt comfortable enough around Yaden's amazing family to sleep among them.

Or so he had thought. Now he that he actually set foot into the nest he wasn't so sure anymore. But he would look like a complete idiot, if he turned and ran now so the only way was forward.

With a deep breath he forced himself to lie down next to Yaden and pull his lover into his arms. With Yaden snuggling against his side like he always did, Sam's heartbeat calmed considerably.

Even when Colin and Jenny walked in, still animatedly chatting about the movie they had all watched together, he managed to keep that calm. 

It was a little startling when Colin curled up on Yaden's other side, nuzzling Yaden's neck. But it was okay. Better than okay, even. It felt good in a very strange way. A feeling of closeness that Sam so far had only associated with his lover, not with his other spouses.

Jenny was still busy braiding her hair for the night when Kendrik joined them. Sam watched with contented amusement how Jenny finished her own hair and then tamed Kendrik's long, red mane.

Kendrik kissed first Colin and then Yaden good night, before he stretched out on his back with Jenny using his expansive chest as a pillow.

By now only the light of the moon and stars coming in through the window illuminated the room.

It gave Teagan a fitting stage as the last of Yaden's husbands trotted into the nest in his huge predatory cat form.

By now Sam was feeling so comfortable and happy that he didn't mind when Teagan stopped at his head and noisily sniffed his hair.

"Teagan… behave…" Jenny complained drowsily.

With a loud huff the demon settled so that his massive head rested on his paws near Sam's head.

One by one Sam listened to their breathing evening out as they fell asleep.

Just like that.

Sam closed his eyes and pulled his arms around Yaden a little tighter. He truly was a very lucky man.


	3. Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "Mistake"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: a stupid Castella, Sir Milo Cournicova  
> Prompt: the first time someone is stupid enough to ignore Ondine's shiny new earrings  
> Warnings: creepy Phoenix Knight

Count Jonas Castella walked back and forth in the small training room he had been locked in with the rage filled purpose of a hungry predator.

He was going to kill them all. 

No, scratch that. He was going to kill a few of them and have the rest of them killed by his men.

He was an honoured guest of the Duke of Serin!

How dare these worthless whores lock him up!

And all because he had slapped that stupid bitch.

That stupid bitch who dared to tell him how he should fuck a whore!

The audacity!

It was an outrage!

The sound of the door being unlocked had him turn on it with all his pent up wrath.

Only to recoil immediately when he realized who exactly stood there, smiling at him pleasantly.

Sir Milo Cournicova of the Phoenix Knights looked like he had just stepped out of one of his own movie posters. Blonde, charming, impeccably dressed. Only his eyes gave away that he was a monster in human guise. A shadow-walker. 

"Count Jonas." He greeted the other noble with alarming familiarity. "I am so sorry about this whole misunderstanding. I'm sure my presence here is entirely unwarranted and you were going to publicly apologize to Miss Ondine, weren't you?"

The Count blinked at the knight in utter confusion. Maybe this was a Phoenix Knight and a monster to boot, but that didn't give him the right to make such outrageous demands, did it?

"What the…?!" he started, but suddenly found himself silenced as all shadows in the room converged on him and took a strangling hold of his body.

"I was hoping you would say that." Sir Milo purred, his smile still eerily as pleasant.


	4. Mission Accomplished

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "Mission accomplished"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Ekai/Mattis  
> Prompt: first missing or their wedding  
> Warnings: zombie, gore

Ekai rubbed his hands over his face to clear his view from soot, grime and gore.

"Is it really dead?" he asked, to his own surprise feeling more annoyed than terrified by the complete mess around them.

Mattis poked his foot against the splattered mass that a few moments ago had still been a huge zombie, wearing an ancient magic Jehanni samurai armour. He was covered in gore even more than Ekai since he had been the one to chop of the things head and put it out of commission.

"I would say it was dead to start with." He said with a broad grin.

Ekai grimaced and shook gore from his hands.

"It won't get back up." Mattis reassured him, kicking the thing's head in Ekai's general direction.

He crouched down and carefully disentangled the helmet from the severed head. The stink of the thing was unbelievable and made his eyes water.

"Oh my god." He wheezed, quickly getting up and kicking the head behind the burst open sarcophagus the zombie had emerged from when they broke into its tomb.

"Can't be that much worse than cleaning up gladiator entrails." Mattis joked with a grin.

Ekai inspected his lover from head to toe and with a grin of his own decided that even now Mattis looked simply stunning.

"How about we get back to P2, hand over this cursed helmet and then get a nice, long, hot shower together." He suggested with a hungry purr.

Mattis shouldered his huge battleaxe and stepped over the zombie's corpse. "Sounds like a lovely plan."


	5. Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "Cake"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Greg/Amadeus  
> Prompt: They decide to order a cake. But what kind of cake?  
> Warnings: cake?

"I want cake."

The petulant note in the voice of his current house guest wasn't lost on Amadeus. In fact it was a tone of voice he had used plenty of times when he really wanted something and didn't feel like putting in any effort himself.

He glanced over to where Prince Gregory resided on his huge, round, blue satin covered bed.

The boy looked pretty, with his raven black hair, huge, violet eyes and milky white skin. His bandaged foot rested on a fancy, heart shaped white suede pillow.

He didn't fool Amadeus for a second.

"And what kind of cake does your highness require?" he asked with what he considered a stinging amount of sarcasm.

Gregory cocked his head and eyed him with sudden wary respect. "Uh… lemon tart… maybe?" he suggested.

The petulance was gone from his voice and so was the unspoken command. Suddenly his wish for cake had turned into the polite wish of a rather cute teenager.

Amadeus grinned at him. "Say 'please'."

For a moment Gregory blinked at him in stunned outrage. Then he smiled back as sweetly as sugar plums.

"Please?"


	6. Pet Troll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "Pet Troll"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Vian/Wayne, Antares  
> Prompt: Vian buys Wayne  
> Warnings: slave shopping, alien

"Okay… let me get this straight: You said you wanted a cute, nice, sexy boy to warm your bed and who you could spoil and cuddle. And now you are buying that red-headed troll."

Vian blinked at Antares in slight annoyance. "He is not a troll, Ani."

His best friend had trouble understanding human behaviour at the best of times. The concept of owning a sentient pet was entirely alien to him.

"He called you a 'motherfucking freak', tried to bite you and kicked the trader. He isn't pretty or cute or nice and I doubt he will 'warm your bed'." Antares ticked his arguments off on his fingers.

Vian glanced over to where the slave they were talking about was chained to a heavy iron ring set into the wall of the pen he inhabited with several other slaves. He really didn't look anything like Vian had imagined his first pet would be. But the way he pleadingly looked back at Vian melted his heart.

"That was two hours ago." Vian said to Antares. "He has been really sweet since we came back to look at him again."

Antares raised one of his eyebrows. "That's just because some other customer has been through here and took him for a test drive."

Vian shrugged. "So?"

"I just don't get it." Antares admitted somewhat helplessly. "I have no clue how you mortals pick who you like and who you don't like."

That made Vian grin. He patted his friend's shoulder encouragingly. "Don't worry, you'll get it eventually." He said.

Then he went over to the slaver to buy his first pet.


	7. It's not stealing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "It's not stealing"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Leesha, Jimmy  
> Prompt: The cleaning up of a very big mess.  
> Warnings: a few corpses

"What the fuck has happened here?!"

Leesha looked around the stretch of underground corridor with a feeling of horrified disbelief. Carnage was supposed to happen in the arena, not underneath it. And certainly not among what looked like thugs and arena guards.

"Actually I'm not quite sure." Jimmy answered. He looked a bit shaken, but was clearly unhurt.

When he had called Leesha about half an hour ago he had sounded terrified, but by now he seemed to have calmed down considerably and was almost back to his usual cocky self.

"I just hurt the yelling and shooting and went to investigate." When I got here they were all dead already."

"What were you doing here anyway?" Leesha asked, critically eyeing the teenaged chief of his household. Sneaking into the bowels of the arena in the middle of the night hadn't been exactly easy for Leesha, but Jimmy looked very much at home here.

"Uh… I was meeting with some people who owe me money." Jimmy answered, quite obviously forcing himself to complete honesty and in the process bringing up more questions in Leesha's mind.

Leesha opened his mouth to ask them, but then thought better of it. "So why exactly have you called me?" he asked instead. "Doesn't look to me like these people need any of my attention."

"Oh, no." Jimmy shook his head in agreement. "They are not the problem." He gestured towards the various corpses. "It's this way."

He led Leesha down the corridor, nimbly stepping over the corpses until they reached the broken down door of a storage room. In the clear light of Jimmy's flashlight Leesha recognized another body, lying partially hidden behind a stack of crates. A huge body that shimmered slightly golden.

"He's hurt!" Jimmy said, hurrying over to the unmoving body. "We need to get him home somehow and I can't move him on my own."

"Is that who I think it is?" Leesha asked with a sinking feeling.

Jimmy nodded excitedly. "Yes! We can't just leave him here!"

Leesha tiredly rubbed his eyes. It had been a very long day. "You want to steal the Golden Gladiator?" he asked even though he already knew the answer.

"It's not stealing!" Jimmy exclaimed indignantly. "We are just borrowing him. Until he is better."

"We could just hand him over to the Arena medical staff." Leesha suggested without much hope.

Jimmy's look at him over his shoulder made him feel like a complete moron. "Cause he is going to be safe there when they've tried to murder him once already."

Leesha sighed deeply. He had no idea how they would move the hulking man, much less how they would get him out of the Arena unobserved and transport all three of them on Leesha's hoverbike. But of course he would accomplish all that somehow when Jimmy made such hopeful puppy eyes.

"All right. Go and find me a hoverpad." He told Jimmy and crouched down next to the Golden Gladiator to check how bad his injuries were.


	8. If we all try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "If we all try…"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Lady Ornella, Karl, Eric, Leonardo  
> Prompt: What's the relationship between the newfound brothers like?  
> Warnings: family dinner

The icy silence around the table matched the equally icy weather outside. Minus the sunshine. Snow was falling in slow, swirling drifts, sparkling like millions of diamonds in the beautiful light of the setting sun. 

So far Lenny's first Lux Splendor as a free man had been absolutely wonderful.

The first day he had spent with all the other Aroona priests of the Palace Chapel, handing out small presents to all the commoner children of the palace. There had been so much cheer and happiness all around it had made him dizzy with joy.

Dinner had been a more sedate affair with all the priests and staff of the chapel eating together.

And after that he had first listened with rapt attention to Mother Sophia's sermon and then… well… they had all celebrated life Aroona style.

He had been most pleasantly exhausted and sore the next morning.

The second day he had spent in the city, helping at one of the larger temples handing out food to the homeless and poor.

The evening he had spent with Rose and Eric, having dinner and a rather quiet and happy time.

The third day traditionally was reserved for meditation for an Aroona. That had been rather hard considering that he had been extremely nervous about the evening.

And now that evening was here and he obviously had been right to be nervous.

The huge black table sat in a beautiful but austere room. The small windows high up in the wall made it look a bit like a prison cell to Lenny. The high backed chairs were stylish but uncomfortable. The food smelled delicious, but the three other people in the room were just pushing it around on their plates with varying degrees of frowning.

Eric looked decidedly uncomfortable with even being here.

Duke Karl looked like he was ready to start gnawing on the table instead of his food.

And Lady Ornella had a tiny frown etched into her brow and an expression of pained despair in her eyes.

It had been her idea to have a 'family dinner'. To get all of them at one table.

Lenny had a good idea what she had hoped to accomplish but clearly it wasn't working with everyone remaining silent as grim statues.

He took a deep breath.

"So, Karl, have you been doing anything special for Lux Splendor?" he cheerfully asked into the hostile silence.


	9. Sleeping Arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title: "Sleeping Arrangements"  
> Verse: Phoenix Empire  
> Characters: Vian/Wayne  
> Prompt: Vian and Wayne disagree  
> Warnings: arguing

"You know, you did promise to behave, back at the slave market."

Vian and his new pet frowned at each other with almost identical expression of annoyance. 

"Yeah, cause you seemed nicer then the rest of those bastards." Wayne growled without the slightest hint of respect. 

It made Vian wonder whether his sister Myriam's pet had been as difficult when she first got him.

"I am nicer." Vian maintained, somewhat hurt by his pet's lack of faith in him.

"Oh really?" Wayne sneered. "Then way do you want me to sleep in your bed?"

Vian irritably flicked his ears. "Because you are my pet? That's what pets are for."

"So you're just going to rape me? You better not expect me to just lie there and take it!" Wayne was bristling with fury and Vian thought that if he had a tail it would now be fluffed up with anger.

"No, I'm not going to rape you!" he snarled back indignantly. "I just want to have sex with you!"

"And how this that going to work?!"

They stared at each other for a moment, both at a loss on how to proceed.

Vian looked away first, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Okay… let's rewind this back to sleeping arrangements…"


End file.
